The well-known original text which serves as the basis for this book presents in elegant verse the entire Buddhist path according to the Nyingma school. Despite the separation in time between the lives of Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798), and the great Longchenpa (fourteenth century), who is considered to be the brightest luminary of the Nyingma school, the two are closely linked. Jigme Lingpa was a terton (discoverer of treasure teachings) who encountered Longchenpa in a series of visions. The Longchen Nyingtik, Jigme Lingpa's terma cycle of teachings and practices, is one of the most important systems in the Nyingma tradition. His Treasury of Precious Qualities is regarded as the summary and quintessence of Longchenpa's Seven Treasures. It is pithy and concise, makes use of elaborate poetic language, and is often presented as a concluding summary, indeed a crowning masterpiece, to the long, traditional course of studies in both the sutras and tantras.

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Of the numerous commentaries that exist, the present text was composed by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche (1987-1975), of the monastery of Riwoche in Kham, who, like Jigme Lingpa, was a great scholar and terton. He left Tibet in the 1950s and was one of the first Tibetan masters to accept Western disciples.

The Treasury of Precious Qualities consists of two sections devoted, respectively, to the sutras and the tantras. The sutra section, which is the subject of the present volume, covers the ethical, psychological, and philosophical teachings common to all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It gives a comprehensive presentation of such fundamental issues as karma, the four noble truths, and the twelvefold chain of dependent arising. The general thrust of the work is toward the Mahayana, and it is designed to prepare the student for the teachings of the tantras. To make the text more readily accessible to Western Buddhists, detailed notes and appendixes have been added from other texts and authorities.

The Padmakara Translation Group, based in France, has a distinguished reputation for its translations of Tibetan texts and teachings. Its work has been published in several languages and is renowned for its clear and accurate literary style.